Taking it on the Chin
December 13, 2008
A few weeks ago the Wee Bear had a fall at the park. A bad one. We had just finished tobogganing, and were on the jungle gym. His mitts had gotten wet so he had his hands in his pockets.
As he went over the little bridge, and made his way up the small incline, his boots slipped out from underneath him. With his hands in his pockets he couldn’t put them out to brace his fall. He went down right on his chin.
It was one of those falls that you just know is bad. Not the kind where you can dust their pants off and away you go. At first I was thinking he may have bitten his tongue or cheek or had some kind of concussion. After checking all that as he screamed his little head off, our friend who went tobogganing with us said, “It looks like he cut his chin.”
I looked, and did he ever. It was split open almost an inch long and very deeply. Luckily is was not bleeding badly, but I knew immediately: this one needed stitches.
So after tracking down his mom, who was shopping with the car, we met up and went off to the hospital. About 3 hours later (not bad, really) the WB had his chin neatly glued up and we were on our way home.
Its been about three weeks now, and the glue has come off (really cool stuff by the way), revealing a smear of a red line that will eventually be reduced to a scar. Luckily its on the underside of his chin, so it won’t be visible unless he’s looking up.
So the other night, when I was tucking him in, I had the kind of moment when you realize you are going to remember something. That this mark on his chin will be something we will talk about in years to come. “How did that happen?” someone will ask. “Oh, let me tell you the story…” we will say.
